Tenuous Grip

Posted on Mon 22 February 2010 by alex in general

We have just returned from a weekend in the Peak District, ostensibly for walking although we stayed on for extra loafing and a Goose dinner on Sunday. The event is a regular birthday celebration/mass catering event held in various youth hostels near various peaks over the years. This was my second time attending and it was most agreeable.

The walking element of the weekend included climbing a snow covered Kinder Scout. Unlike previous years I wasn't failed by poor fitting shoes or a particularly steep ascent so enjoyed the fresh air all the more. I can't help feeling the large amount of walking I do around Cambridge is essentially useless as a preparation for anything with slopes. Snowden is currently the next beast to conqueror although schedules are starting to fill up.

The journey home did start with a mini-Volkswagen adventure. The road we had followed on the way looked clear the way back. Indeed most of the rolling hills were carefully navigated by following the clear black tire tracks. Unfortunately the final climb up the highest local hillock had a few un-thawed regions which led to a lose of grip before cresting the hill. A vaguely concerning controlled skid backwards as gravity re-asserted itself over momentum eventually rested the car across the whole road. Luckily the road was used by locals with slightly more appropriate 4x4s. In the end we were unable to tow the car up the hill so I tenderly reversed it to the bottom of the hill before a final 3 point turn to take us back the way we came. The locals where very nice about helping but I'm not sure if they were exchanging looks with each other judging the silly southerner in his impractical car. There are signs in the Peaks that instruct you to follow the damn diversion signs and ignore what the Sat-Nav tells you to do, I suspect I fell into the same admonished category.